A Ruby's Shine (Thorin Oakenshield X OC)

16. Revealing Small Secrets

I sighed and shook my head as Fairfin finished the grapes. If I keep thinking over her words, I am going to drive myself mad. Sadly, only time will give me the answer which I search for. So, to get my mind off her riddles, I started farther into the grove, to the west of Rivendell. The sun had just set, giving the last few rays of light before the forest became lit with the white lights in the trees, casting an ethereal glow to the grove around me as I walked. I knew this grove like the back of my hand, having spent numerous days wandering through the beauty of nature around Rivendell as a child.

Soon I reached the familiar stones one could hop across to the other side. I quickly and easily jumped across these stones like I did when I was much younger, glad the stream had not covered them with time. Though with Rivendell... it always felt like the erosion of nature slowed here, with the magic of elves. It always felt like a different world than the one just beyond this valley. I continued across a few streams and a rather larger river that I don't remember being that wide, though maybe I have forgotten with time, before I found what I was looking for.

I stopped and smiled at the rock cliff, the sounds of nature and the rushing rivers filling me with peace as I reached out, running my fingers along the carved names into the rock, Elladan, Elrohir, Arwen, Lindir, and many others who have come through here.. I stopped over the carved initials of my name in the rock, a set of knives crossed under my name that I remember carving myself into the rock, hoping it would make me feel more like I belonged here... it did not. I never felt like I belonged here. I ran my thumb along the crossed knives, seeing someone had carved over them again, cleaning them up and making them strangely unique... I wonder if that was Elladan or Elrohir's doing.

I dropped my hand, frowning as it felt... warmer all of a sudden, what is that?

"Who are you, really?" A gruff, deep and annoyingly attractive voice suddenly spoke from behind me. Right. That explains it, though I still have no clue why I can sense Thorin's presence this way. He sounded like the stubborn dwarf I've grown to strongly dislike right now, angry, irritated, and impatient. I closed my eyes in an attempt to avoid socking him in the face like I'm so sorely tempted to do as I turned with a raised eyebrow, unsurprised to find Thorin standing there since he is one of the only people I know who can sound so grumpy and annoyed all the time.

I glared in annoyance at the infuriating royal dwarf that keeps trying to pry into my past. I'm also irritated with myself at how I cannot seem to avoid reacting in some way to his presence, and even more annoyed that people keep on sneaking up on me without me noticing their approach. Especially since Thorin is a dwarf and I have seen that the dwarves are not quiet people, I should have heard him far before I felt that strange warmth I cannot explain.

"Who I am and my past is not your business, and you should leave it at that." I said irritably, even though I am resigned to us having to have this conversation.

He scowled at me even more so, crossing his arms as he glared at me, "How can any one of us trust you if we know nothing about you?" He growled out, and I read the hidden meaning, he wasn't willing to trust me till he knew more about me. I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"Fine then, dwarf, ask. But don't expect me to answer." I ground out, glaring him down as he grumbled in clear irritation.

"You are not normal, I've never seen a human female as short as you are, you could pass for a Hobbit if you had their large feet. For someone who lives off the land fighting bandits and orcs, spending much of your time in pubs, you display a way of talking, walking, and acting that I have only seen among nobles. You know Sindarin, elvish runes, and seem quite knowledgeable for someone who lives on the road, a kind of knowledge one only gets if they were raised outside of the common-born. Yet, with all that, you are an extremely well taught fighter, further proving you have been trained by experts. One of the best I have seen, beyond Fili, at throwing and using knives and the most skilled with a sword I have seen by a female human. So, Philomena, who are you really?" Thorin growled, glaring at me with his rather startlingly blue eyes, trying to intimidate me as he glared me down, standing taller as he stomped forward, proving my point of dwarves being not quiet people, until he was standing a foot away from me.